Sunday, December 19, 2010

A respectful homage & floral tribute to Maharana Pratap and his legacy as envisaged & flashed by me on the f.b.on Dec.20,2010.

Bishwa Nath Singh:

Let us not forget that Maharana Pratap(1540 to 1597)who himself had undertaken several penances, not because his finances forced him to do so, but because he wished to remind himself, and all his subjects as why they were undertaking this pain - to win back their freedom, their right to exist as they wished and had remained true to his vow that he would eat in leaf-plates, would sleep on the floor and would not shave in his self-inflicted state of penury that had prompted him to live in mud-huts made from mud and bamboo and learn lesson from his life as what patriotism & selfless service means to one!

Can we remember to one as who was that King of Indian State in olden days during Mughal Period who himself had undertaken several penances, not because his finances forced him to do so, but because he wished to remind himself, and all his subjects as why they were undertaking this pain - to win back their freedom, their right to exi...st as they wished and had remained true to his vow that he would eat in leaf-plates, would sleep on the floor and would not shave in his self-inflicted state of penury that had prompted him to live in mud-huts made from mud and bamboo! He was none else than Maharana Pratap who was the fifty fourth ruler in the line of the Sisodiya dynasty of the Mewar Empire of Rajasthan of India. Let us pay our humble obeisance’s to his lotus feet and have a glimpse of his life history in brief to revive of our memories and learn lesson of supreme sacrifice of adopting austerity measures from his life!

Bishwa Nath Singh :
Maharana Pratap, a great warrior and true Patriot was born on May , 1540 in Kumbhalgarh in Rajasthan State of India. He was son of Maharana Udai Singh II and Rani Jeevant Kanwar.His father Maharana Udai Singh II had ruled the kingdom of M...ewar, with his capital at Chittor. He was the eldest of twenty-five sons and hence given the title of Crown Prince. He was destined to be the 54th ruler of Mewar, in the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs. In 1567, when Crown Prince Pratap Singh was only twenty seven, Chittor was surrounded by the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar.his father had decided to leave Chittor and moved his family to Gogunda, rather than capitulate to the Mughals. The young Pratap Singh wanted to stay back to Mewar to fight the Mughals but the elders intervened and convinced him to leave Chittor, oblivious of the fact that this move from Chittor was going to create history for all times to come. In Gogunda,his father and his nobles set up a temporary government of the kingdom of Mewar. His father Maharana Udai Sngh II had passed away in 1572 making passage for Crown Prince Pratap Singh to become the Maharana. However, during his later years, the late Maharana Udai Singh II had fallen under the influence of his most favorite queen, Rani Bhatiyani, and had willed that her son Jagmal should ascend to the throne.. Pratap Singh, in deference to his father's wishes, decided to let his half-brother Jagmal become the next king. However, knowing this to be disastrous for Mewar, the late Maharana's nobels, especially the Chundawat Rajputs, forced Jagmal to leave the throne to Pratap Singh. Unlike Bharat, Jagmal did not willingly give up the throne. He swore revenge and left for Ajmer, to join the armies of Akbar, where he was offered a jagir - the town of Jahazpur - in return for his help. Meanwhile, Crown Prince Pratap Singh became Maharana Pratap Singh I the 54th ruler of Mewar - founded in 568 AD by Guhil - in the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs. The year was 1572. Pratap Singh had just become the Maharana of Mewar and he had not been back in Chittor since 1567. His old fort and his home beckoned to him. The pain of his father's death, and the fact that his father had not been able to see Chittor again, troubled the young Maharana deeply. But he was not the only one troubled at this time. Akbar had control of Chittor but not the kingdom of Mewar. So long as the people of Mewar swore by their Maharana, Akbar could not realize his ambition of being the Jahanpanah of Hindustan. He had sent several emissaries to Mewar to get Maharana Pratap to agree to sign a treaty but the latter was only willing to sign a peace treaty whereby the sovereignty of Mewar would be intact. In the course of the year 1573, Akbar sent six diplomatic missions to Mewar to get Maharana Pratap to agree to the former's suzerainty but Maharana Pratap turned down each one of them. The last of these missions was headed by Raja Man Singh, the brother-in-law of Akbar himself. Maharana Pratap, angered that his fellow Rajput was aligned with someone who had forced the submission of all Rajputs, refused to sup with Raja Man Singh. The lines were completely drawn now - Akbar understood that Maharana Pratap would never submit and he With the failure of efforts to negotiate a peace treaty in 1573, Akbar blockaded Mewar from the rest of the world and alienated Mewar's traditional allies, some of whom were Maharana Pratap's own kith and kin. In preparation for the inevitable war with the Mughals, Maharana Pratap changed his administration. He moved his capital to Kumbhalgarh, where he was born. He commanded his subjects to leave for the Aravali mountains and leave behind nothing for the approaching enemy - the war would be fought in a mountain terrain which the Mewar army was used to but not the Mughals'. It is a testament to the young king's respect amongst his subjects that they obeyed him and left for the mountains. The Bhils of the Aravalis were completely behind him. The army of Mewar now raided Mughal trade caravans going from Delhi to Surat, on their way to Europe. A section of his army guarded the all important Haldighati Pass, the only way to get into Udaipur from the North. Maharana Pratap himself undertook several penances, not because his finances forced him to do so, but because he wished to remind himself, and all his subjects, why they were undertaking this pain - to win back their freedom, their right to exist as they wished. He foreswore that he would eat from leaf-plates, would sleep on the floor and would not shave. In his self-inflicted state of penury, the Maharana lived in mud-huts made from mud and bamboo. In 1576, the famous battle of Haldighati was fought with 20,000 Rajputs against a Mughal army of 80,000 men commanded by Raja Man Singh. The battle was fierce though indecisive, to the Mughal army's astonishment. His army was not defeated but Maharana Pratap was surrounded by Mughal soldiers. It is said that at this point, his estranged brother, Sakta Singh, appeared and saved the Rana's life. Another casualty of this war was Maharana Pratap's famous, and loyal, horse Chetak, who gave up his life trying to save his master. After this war, Akbar tried several times to take over Mewar, failing each time. Maharana Pratap himself was keeping up his quest for taking Chittor back. However, the relentless attacks of the Mughal army had left his army weaker, and he barely had enough money to keep it going. It is said that at this time, one of his ministers, Bhama Shah, came and offered him all this wealth - a sum enabling him to support an army of 25,000 for twelve years. It is said that before this generous gift from Bhama Shah, Maharana Pratap, anguished at the state of his subjects, was beginning to lose his spirit in fighting Akbar. Later on,he wrote to Akbar demanding for peace talk. Overjoyed at this indication of his valiant foe's submission, Akbar commanded public rejoicing, and showed the letter to a literate Rajput at his Court, Prince Prithiraj. An award-winning poet, Prithiraj was also a gallant warrior and a longtime admirer of the brave Maharana Pratap Singh. He was astonished and grieved by Maharana Pratap's decision, and told Akbar the note was the forgery of some foe to defame the Mewar king. On seeing this letter, Prithiraj, a famous Rajput poet at the court of Akbar, wrote a letter to Maharana Prathap asking him to reverse his decision to surrender. The poet urged Rana to fight for the cause of Hindustan. This letter changed the mind of Pratap and he continued to defend Mewar with unprecedented vigor. After 1587, Akbar relinquished his obsessive pursuit of Maharana Pratap and took his battles into Punjab and India's Northwest Frontier. Thus for the last ten years of his life, he ruled in relative peace and eventually freed most of Mewar, including Udaipur and Kumbhalgarh, but not Chittor. He was called the light and life of the Hindu community. There were times when he and his family and children ate bread made of grass." Maharana Pratap became a patron of the Arts. During his reign Padmavat Charita and the poems of Dursa Ahada were written. His last moments were an appropriate commentary on his life, when he swore his successor, Crown Prince Amar Singh to eternal conflict against the foes of his country's independence. He was never able to win back Chittor but he never gave up fighting to win it back. In January 1597, He being Mewar's greatest hero, was seriously injured in a hunting accident and later on passed away at Chavand on January 29, 1597 at the age of fifty six fighting for his nation, for his people, and most importantly for his honor.

Bishwa Nath Singh:
Can we remember to one as who was that King of Indian State in olden days during Mughal Period who himself had undertaken several penances, not because his finances forced him to do so, but because he wished to remind himself, and all his... subjects as why they were undertaking this pain - to win back their freedom, their right to exist as they wished and had remained true to his vow that he would eat in leaf-plates, would sleep on the floor and would not shave in his self-inflicted state of penury that had prompted him to live in mud-huts made from mud and bamboo! He was none else than Maharana Pratap who was the fifty fourth ruler in the line of the Sisodiya dynasty of the Mewar Empire of Rajasthan of India. Let us pay our humble obeisance’s to his lotus feet and have a glimpse of his life history in brief to revive of our memories and learn lesson of supreme sacrifice of adopting austerity measures from his life!